Female wanting to Mate

[Kaytana22]

Yea so my female cockatiel is only about 7 months (or so I was told) but she is displaying mating signs (shes bending over in the food dish and making that weird mating call sound, and rubbing her cloaca against the cage door) Is that normal for this age or should I be upset about the breeder lying to me about her age? The male is about the same age and all he does is stand on her back the whole time and just looks around. I just read on a webpage that cockatiels do not start "mating" until the female is around 2 years old.

 

[Kaytana22]

I think that female is older then what the guy told me. I mean I don't care really shes a sweety but.. yah *shes on the right*

 

[Kaytana22]

Female on the right, male on the left

 

[texsize]

Um.
From what I understand a Lutino/Lutino mating is undesirable and prone to genetic abnormalities.

I could be wrong but it’s what I have read.
But your birds are beautiful.

 

[noodles123]

Mmmm....I'm more concerned about this happening in a cage with a potential mate...You aren't going to try to breed them are you? That is way more complicated and expensive than it sounds and quite dangerous unless you have extensive experience with hand feeding, breeding etc....Some sources say at 9-12 months they are physically developed enough to mate.. Lafebare says 6-12 months is sexual maturity....https://lafeber.com/vet/basic-information-sheet-for-the-cockatiel/


I have never heard 2 years for tiels.



I am not trying to be critical, but that cage is VERY small for 1 cockatiel, let alone 2 and so babies are definitely not a good idea (for that and other reasons as well--even if you had a massive cage, breeding is still a massively complicated undertaking that should not be attempted without prior apprenticeship etc). The bare minimum cage size for a single tiel is much larger than what you have there. If you are at all able, both birds need much bigger cages and I would separate them. Dowel perches like that are also very bad for their feet and can lead to bumblefoot. You can get flight cages fora very reasonable price. I would get 2 if you have the funds. Again, these birds can last 30 years and are meant to fly miles a day. They can't even spread their wings in that space without hitting the other or the cage wall.


This girl is super positive (and never mean) but she has very good feedback when she reviews her subscribers cages. She is spot-on with her suggestions and I would really watch them because it can be a great starting point for knowing what to do and what not to do. She is very realistic about this--- and she is a great resource:


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFT2bHptiGY"]Reacting to My Subscribers’ Bird Cages! - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDyy3B-34c&list=RDCMUCrozpXn44uk0V9uQWFhxJuA&index=2"]Reacting to My Subscribers’ Bird Cages! | Pt. 2 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aDicZLr5gU&list=RDCMUCrozpXn44uk0V9uQWFhxJuA&index=3"]Reacting to My Subscribers’ Bird Cages! | Pt. 3 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Laurasea]

Beautiful birds. I have to agree this is a tiny cage. Is it a travel cage or a sleep cage,?

You definitely need to upgrade if this is their main cage. As your first priority.

I've gotten gently used cages from Craigslist. I clean them outside. I while every single bar snd inch with dilute bleach. Hose off towel dry. Check every inch and repeat. Then I like to leave them in the sun fir a few days. I'm sure others have other cleaning methods.

 

[Kaytana22]

They mainly just sleep here they are free flight thru out the entire day just about. I only put them in there when its sleep time and when I leave the home, or when I have them on the porch for some fresh air. And no I was not trying to breed them on purpose. And Yes I agree they really need a bigger cage. But at the moment this is all we have which is why I let them out in the room for most the day. I do not let them flight free on the porch cause there are holes in the screens where they could actually get away which I definitely do not want.

 

[Kaytana22]

Also there is another perch that has different shapes on it because I read that just a dowel is bad.

 

[Kaytana22]

Ok the videos are eye openers and now I feel like a bird abuser ... heh...

 

[noodles123]

They mainly just sleep here they are free flight thru out the entire day just about. I only put them in there when its sleep time and when I leave the home, or when I have them on the porch for some fresh air. And no I was not trying to breed them on purpose. And Yes I agree they really need a bigger cage. But at the moment this is all we have which is why I let them out in the room for most the day. I do not let them flight free on the porch cause there are holes in the screens where they could actually get away which I definitely do not want.

Yeah- definitely smart not to let them free-fly on the porch with holes in the screen (they could probably chew a hole easily enough, even if there were none, and screens contain harmful metals). Just make sure you watch them carefully to be sure they don't mouth painted surfaces, metals, chords etc indoors.



There are some really reasonable flight cages online if you ever want help scoping some out. You can get them on Amazon etc

 

[noodles123]

Also there is another perch that has different shapes on it because I read that just a dowel is bad.

Mazanita, dragonwood, java, grapevine etc= all options.

I had a custom perch made to replace the large cross-cage perch that used to be in my parrots cage.


Here are some examples (with the exception of that "fir" one from petco (which IMO is far too uniform still)-- again, you will need a bigger cage for most of these. They generally spend the most time on higher perches, so if you have a dowel (and it is highest) that is the one they will often gravitate towards.



https://safeforparrots.com/best-natural-wood-bird-perches/
^ good examples of varied textures. In terms of diameter (no all the way across, but in general, for a tiel 1/2" to 1" is about what you want, but again, you don't want them uniform all the way across).



This is where I got my custom perch, but you can also buy pre-made (non custom) perches here. They custom ones cost more, but for my cage, I needed one. https://parrotwizard.com/Custom_Perch/



Pressure treated lumber is unsafe and a lot of the wood at hardware stores has been chemically treated.



(note: do not just grab sticks from your yard, as the wood can be toxic, as can some lichen/fungi and even safe woods absorb run-off, road salts and pesticides depending on their location. They can carry bacterial hazards as well. If you find some bird-safe wood that you know has never been exposed to pesticides or run off in the tree's lifetime, then you can strip it and bake it for a period of time to kill bacteria and insect larvae etc, but it's a bit of a process). Not all types need to be stripped, but again, it depends on the type. Wild birds have totally different immune systems so you really can't compare a bird raised in captivity to a wild bird.

 

[Kaytana22]

I will be getting 3 new cages the first of the month for all 3 birds the two cockatiels who I will be separating and the GCC. The cages are 34x27x26 which is a bit bigger then what is recommended. Also I am going to be ordering some nice natural perches as the cage only comes with dowel rod perches. I found a great price for them on Facebook market place and they r brand new. The only issue is going to be the toys as I do not know how to make them and they tend run rather expensive. But will see what I can do. I figure that cages and perches r more of a priority for them. Any ideas where I can find/make toys for cheaper then pet store prices?

 

[Owlet]

I will be getting 3 new cages the first of the month for all 3 birds the two cockatiels who I will be separating and the GCC. The cages are 34x27x26 which is a bit bigger then what is recommended. Also I am going to be ordering some nice natural perches as the cage only comes with dowel rod perches. I found a great price for them on Facebook market place and they r brand new. The only issue is going to be the toys as I do not know how to make them and they tend run rather expensive. But will see what I can do. I figure that cages and perches r more of a priority for them. Any ideas where I can find/make toys for cheaper then pet store prices?

Making toys is your best bet if you want cheap. You can use household items like popsicle sticks, coffee filters/cupcake liner (paper kind), straws (plastic and paper), craft paper, paper cups, etc. You can get supplies from craft stores like craft foam sheets, balsa wood, wood shapes.
You can use cat/dog toys that are small enough too.

Here's a couple bird toy part stores I like to shop from:

https://makeyourownbirdtoys.com/
https://www.mysafebirdstore.com/

 

[Kaytana22]

Awesome thanks so much ��